On Nov. 11, 2005, the U.S. Congress authorized the 2-year extension of Postage Stamp for Breast Cancer Research (P.L. 109-100) act through Dec. 31, 2007. The Act provided the U.S. Postal Service’s authority to issue special postage stamps to help provide funding for breast cancer research.

The ‘Breast Cancer Research’ (BCR) stamp was created by the U.S. Congress with passage of “The Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act of 1997. First issued on July 29, 1998, the BCR Stamp was the country’s first fundraising stamp.